With the Greatest of Ease
by jewelianna
Summary: Sully's reaction to Michaela's trapeze outfit in "The Circus", and to its reappearance some time later.


"I ain't wearin' it."

Michaela rolled her eyes as she tugged on her tights. From the other side of the screen, Sully's stubborn voice seemed to boom through the tiny dressing area.

"I can't be that bad. Besides, Heart said everyone had to be in costume." Michaela reached for the blue leotard that had been laid out for her and stared at it dubiously. Perhaps Sully had a point. It looked rather small. With a shrug, she stepped into it, tugging the satin up into place.

"Ready?" she asked Sully. She hesitated at the edge of the screen, waiting for his permission to look.

"You can look, but I ain't wearin' this."

Michaela stepped around the screen to see Sully's back. The blue and black leotard stretched from his ankles to his shoulders, emphasizing every muscle along the way. He looked back over his shoulder to her, hair held back in a black sequined headband. His face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Well it can't be that bad. Turn around." She reached to his shoulder, encouraging him to turn. Slowly he did, revealing that the front of the leotard was just as fitted as the back. Everything was visible, every curve of muscle in his thigh, every smooth plane on his chest, and, well, everything in between.

"Oh dear," was all Michaela could manage, eyes darting away quickly. She tried to hide her embarrassment at seeing Sully so completely. It was almost as if he was wearing nothing at all.

"That's it," Sully said, stalking around behind the screen to change. "Tell Heart if she wants me to perform it'll be in my regular clothes, not this." He changed quickly, coming around into the middle of the tent again in his usual buckskin pants and white shirt.

"Well, I certainly can't wear my regular clothes. We'll just have to figure something out." Thinking, Michaela paced the small tent, letting her fingers run along a red feathered boa. "Perhaps Heart will have some ideas." Looking to Sully for suggestions, she found him frozen at the edge of the screen. "What?"

Quickly he recovered. "Nothing. You. I mean, you're not wearing that either."

Looking down, Michaela couldn't figure out the problem. "Why not?"

"Why not? Because every man in town will be gawkin' at you!" Stepping closer, pulling a cape from a coat rack that stood nearby and draped it over her shoulders. "It ain't decent!"

"It's far more concealing that what Dorothy's wearing," Michaela protested. "It's a costume, Sully. It's not something I'd wear out in the streets."

Sully didn't heed her protests, and tied the cape tightly at her throat. "I just ain't proper."

Raising an eyebrow, Michaela studied his worried face. "You're worried about what's proper? Isn't that my role?"

Sully's hands stayed on her shoulders, holding her tightly. "I just don't want all them men starin' at you like…"

"Like one of Hank's girls?" she finished wryly.

Shock hit him quickly, his eyebrows lifting. "No! No one would think that. It's just…" Struggling to find the words, he stepped back and busied himself with fastening his belt back around his hips.

"Just what?" Michaela prodded carefully. She waited until he looked at her again and smiled gently. "Just what, Sully?"

"You're beautiful." He took her hands in his, raising them to kiss her knuckles. He turned her hands over and pressed a lingering kiss to the calluses on her palm. "And I don't want them men thinkin' about ya the way I do."

"Oh." Surprised by his jealously, she felt her cheeks flush. "I think you're exaggerating."

He opened his mouth to reply but they were interrupted by Heart, sweeping into the tent with a laugh. "Now, how are my trapeze artists faring? Do your costumes suit you?"

"Not exactly," Michaela said. Sully stepped to her side, still holding her hand. "I'm afraid Sully's didn't fit him at all."

"Oh no?" Eyebrow raised, Heart sized him up carefully. "I'm usually a good judge of sizes."

"I'm just gonna wear this," Sully said firmly, keeping his eye on Heart. Michaela watched as Heart considered arguing but gave up with only a nod.

"And you, Dr. Mike?"

Michaela glanced up at Sully. "Well, mine fits well enough, but I don't know."

Seeing the look shared between the two of them, Heart smiled. "Ah. The green eyed monster has appeared. Don't worry Mr. Sully. Your lady may have the eyes of the audience, but her heart belongs only to you." She swept out as quickly as she had come, leaving the two of them alone once more.

"She's right, you know." Michaela leaned into Sully and stared up into his eyes hopefully. "But if you really object, I can try to find something else."

Reluctantly, Sully wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Don't do that. You look too pretty to change. But promise me you'll cover up when we ain't performin'."

"I promise." Smiling, she waited, hoping for a kiss. He didn't disappoint her, slowly pressing his lips to hers. Her heart fluttered as he kissed her gently, then drew away.

"You know, there's another problem."

"What's that?"

"How'em I gonna focus with you wearin' that?" He smiled, slowly pushing the cape off of her shoulders and staring down at the blue satin costume. "I might get distracted and drop ya."

"You won't. I trust you." But she blushed despite herself and stepped away. "We should get back to practicing."

Letting her go reluctantly, Sully stepped out of the tent and let her change back into the trousers she'd been wearing for rehearsals. She traced the lace of the leotard as she carefully hung it back onto the rack, thinking about Sully's eyes. She'd seen that look in them before, once, at her mother's birthday party in Boston. When he'd first seen her in that red dress his eyes had held the same longing. Michaela blushed to think of it.

Securing the belt that held her borrowed trousers on, Michaela stepped out into the sunshine. Sully was there and casually dropped his arm over he shoulder as they walked back to the trapeze.

"I was thinkin' we could work on that flip," he said, taking her mind off of costumes and high up into the air to more important things.

**

When the show was over, Michaela changed back into her skirts with reluctance to leave the performer behind. It had been a wonderful experience. Briefly she wondered what her mother would have thought to see her flying through the air. The idea brought out a smile.

"Ah, you must be thinking about your partner," Heart called as she stepped into the tent. Michaela turned with a laugh.

"Actually I was imagining my mother's horror if she knew her proper Boston daughter had spent the week flying around in a spangled leotard. I can't thank you enough for this."

"And I can't thank you enough for what you've done for my daughter." Reaching for the costume Michaela had just hung up, Heart handed it back to her. "Here. Keep this, please."

"I can't." Michaela said automatically, dropping her hands. "What would I do with it?"

"Save it for a rainy day." Heart pressed it into her hands. "Trust me, Michaela. When a man like Sully looks at you the way he did today, you hold on to that. Consider it my gift for your future. I see great things for you both."

Unconvinced, Michaela nevertheless took the costume. "Thank you. If nothing else it will be a reminder of what fun this has been."

Michaela wrapped the costume in her medical apron and left it under the seat of the wagon as the last bits of circus were packed away. With the rest of the town, she bid farewell to Heart and Atlantis, hoping their paths would cross again someday.

At home that night, she tucked the costume into her trunk, wondering if the occasion would ever rise to wear it again.

**

_Some time later…_

_**  
_

"Where's my other shirt?" Sully asked, looking around the bedroom, pulling pantaloons from the dresser drawer and tossing them over his shoulder onto the floor.

"Stop that!" Michaela cried, gathering up her underwear and stacking them on the bed to refold. "You don't need to throw all of my things on the floor."

"If you didn't have so many _things,_ my shirt wouldn't be missin'," Sully argued. It had been a long day and his usual shirt had gotten torn on a nail in the barn.

"I'm sure it's here somewhere. It's blue, it can't be that hard to find." Letting him rummage, she set to folding her pantaloons and stacking them back in the drawer. "Maybe it got put into the trunk."

Kneeling, Sully opened the lid and sifted through the contents. "What's this?" he asked, pausing. Michaela looked over her shoulder.

"What's what?"

"This." Sully pulled the blue and black leotard from the trunk, holding it up for inspection. "I remember this."

Blushing, Michaela tried to snatch it from him, but he held it away. "That's not your shirt."

"No, but it's far more interestin'." Sully reached into the trunk and pulled out the black tights that accompanied the leotard. "Why do you still have this?"

"Heart insisted that I keep it." This time succeeding in taking it from him, she studied the costume, remembering how Sully had looked at her the day of the circus. It seemed like a lifetime ago. "She said she saw great things for us."

"She was right." Sully stood and slowly reached for the buttons of her blouse. "Think it still fits ya?"

"I imagine." Michaela turned away from him and went to set the costume on the bed beside her folded underclothes, but Sully stopped her.

"Wanna try it on?"

Flushing, she turned from him again and began to repack the dresser. "I think it's time for bed. And you still haven't found your shirt."

"I can wear this one torn," he conceded, clearly distracted now by the costume. "Come on, try it on."

"Don't be ridiculous." But she thought back to how Sully had looked at her that day of the circus and felt heat rising inside of her. Now that she knew what he'd likely been thinking that day, it seemed all the more scandalous.

"Please?" Sully pleaded. "Don't make me beg." Sully reached for the buttons on her blouse again, and this time she didn't stop him from freeing them. Slowly he drew her shirt open and tugged it out of her skirt. It fell from her arms to puddle on the floor. Her skirts soon followed.

"What is it about this costume that gets you so excited?" She reluctantly reached for it and held it up against her chest. When he didn't answer, she glanced up at him and watched his eyes glow with desire. "Fine, I'll put it on, but turn around."

"What?"

"It's embarrassing to have you watch me dress. It's not exactly easy to get into this." Standing there in her underwear she felt nothing but silly.

Stunned, he tried to reason with her. "We're married, Michaela. I've seen you dress plenty of times."

"Turn around or you can forget the whole thing." Exasperated, she waited for him to turn before stripping off her underclothes and struggling into the tights and leotard. When she was dressed she sighed, feeling incredibly foolish. "All right, you can look now."

Sully turned slowly, and his eyes panned up from her ankles. "Wow."

"That's all you have to say?" She smiled at him shyly, trying not to cover herself. Funny she could wear the costume in front of the whole town without embarrassment but here, with her husband, she felt exposed.

"Let me try that again. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And you're even more beautiful than I remember in that costume. I had some time controllin' myself around ya last time you wore it." Sully took her in his arms and traced the plunging V of the neckline. Michaela shivered at his touch. He was always so gentle, and despite being married for nearly a month she was still shocked at the intimacy of his touch on her bare skin. His hands lingered in the shallow valley of her breasts, feeling the quickening beat of her heart. She bit her lip in anticipation.

"Sully, it's just a silly costume." It itched more than she remembered, and seemed tighter, making it hard to breathe. Or maybe that was just being with Sully. "I don't know why you're going on about this."

"Ya still don't get it." Walking them back to the bed, he helped her sit up on the high mattress and took one foot in his hands. "The first time I saw you in this, it was the first time I'd seen the whole shape of ya. No skirts, no camisoles, no corsets. Just you. All of you." He slowly slid his hands up her legs, tickling over the satiny tights. She shivered at the touch, whishing he'd finish whatever game this was and touch her skin-to-skin. "My imagination went crazy with it." He kissed her then, leaning down so that his hair fell around her face and brushed against her cheeks.

Michaela remembered their exchange in the tent, when Sully raced to cover her with the cape. "You certainly didn't seem to want to look then."

"You're wrong. I wanted to look too much." Sully stepped between her legs and fingered the lace at her shoulders. "The things I thought of doin' to ya would have shocked ya. Besides," he said, slowly lowering the shoulders of the dress down her arms, "I only needed one look and the image was burned into my memory." He urged her back on the bed and began to peel the outfit off of her.

"You made me put this on just so you could take it off of me?" Irritated for only a moment, his mouth landed where his fingers had lain only moments earlier and distracted her any further protests.

"Would you, for once, just go along with things?" he asked, urging her to lift her hips so he could pull the leotard the rest of the way off. He stripped off his own shirt and knelt above her on the bed, one knee on either side of her hips. She lay backward and closed her eyes as his fingers explored the newly-exposed skin. "I don't know how I got lucky enough to find you."

She could only smile as he touched her breasts, circling each nipple until it tightened into a peak. When his hands moved on to follow the curve of her ribs, she opened her eyes, watching as he reverently dotted each freckle on her skin.

"You've got a scar here," he said, circling a tiny spot on her stomach. "What's it from?"

"The chicken pox. I was older when I got the disease, and determined that I knew better than my mother who told me not to scratch." Self conscious, she moved to hide the blemish, but Sully bent to kiss it lightly, a ghost of a touch from his lips that sent flittering bolts of lightening to her core. When he straightened, Sully stood and removed his pants, reaching for the top of her tights to slowly roll them down her legs. When they were free, he tossed them to the pile on the floor with the rest of their clothes and climbed above her on the bed.

With thoughts of costumes and clothing forgotten, Michaela moaned as her husband entered her. Heart had been right those years ago- great things had come to them. As Sully moved in her, Michaela grasped her hands around his neck and held him close. She thought of the swinging of the trapeze bar so long ago and how she had placed such trust in him. She's never imagined that there was more, that she could give so much more to him and let him give equal to her in return. The rhythm they'd worked on for so long now synchronized naturally. When she felt the waves of pleasure building, she rose to meet him as he thrust, opening her lips for a kiss as he exploded within her. She held the kiss for a moment before pulling back and quietly, joyously, singing a couple of lines from the "Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze."

Breathing heavily, he began to laugh, hair tangled as she brushed it back from his face. She couldn't help but catch the amusement and soon they were both giggling, trying to stay quiet so the kids didn't wake. Dropping his head to her shoulder, Sully slowly withdrew and flopped beside her on the bed.

"So I should keep the costume, then?" Michaela asked, thinking it would be worth wearing more often if Sully came to her with that much enthusiasm.

Sully gathered her into his arms, ignoring the mess they'd made of the room. Stretching, he reached for the lantern and brought it close to blow out the light. Only the soft glow of the fire and the silver beams of the moon remained. He cuddled her close and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Only if you promise to wear it again."

"It's a deal. Although," she said, looking up at him as a devilish idea crossed her mind, "it's really not fair unless we find your costume as well."

He looked at her warily. "You don't have that stuffed away somewhere, do ya?"

"No. But Heart might send it to me, if we could find her." The image of Sully in the tight blue satiny leotard was one that had danced through her mind more than once over the past year and a half. "Though to be quite honest I prefer you like this?"

"Naked?" Laughing, Sully kissed her, shifting into a more comfortable position. His eyes were already starting to droop.

"Natural. Like you."

Sully squeezed her shoulders in answer, and Michaela watched out the window until his breathing evened and he was asleep. Rising, she drew on her nightgown and robe and crept down to the privy, taking a moment to wash up. On the top of the clean laundry basket by the back door was Sully's blue shirt. She carried it back up to the room and placed it on top of the dresser.

Gathering the pieces of the costume from the floor, she tucked them back into the trunk. There was so much between men and women that she was still learning. Costumes! She never would have thought of that. She sent a silent thank you to Heart for having the foresight to predict this moment between her and Sully, and a prayer for the well-being of her circus friends, wherever they may be.


End file.
